In 2013, Gaurav Gill became the first Indian in the history of ever to win the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). Yes, Sanjay Takale did win in his class in 2013, but Gill still is the only Indian driver to have won the APRC overall. He will be defending his title this year with co-driver Glenn Macneall, as they come together to form a two-strong Team MRF Skoda.

Joining the reigning champion and his co-driver in the second Skoda Fabia S2000 will be the current European Rally Championship-winning duo of Jan Kopecky and Pavel Dresler. Team MRF Skoda has already won the championship in 2012, 2013 (winning five out of six rounds), and will be hoping to take the count up to three this year.

At the announcement, Gill said, “Firstly I would like to thank MRF and Skoda for their continuous commitment and support. We had a great season where we created history last year but now our focus is squarely on this year. I will be working much closer with the MRF R&D team as well to ensure we have the best possible tyres. These guys are capable of developing tyres to match the best in the world and together we hope to achieve this. We will not rest on our laurels and will continue to push to ensure that we are fighting for the title again.”

Just like it was last year, there will be six rounds of the APRC in 2014 as well - beginning with New Zealand, moving on to New Caledonia, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, and concluding in China.